'Andrew does the best he can, but he's the second son so I've always helped out'

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The Duchess of York photographed for Harper's Bazaar magazine

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On Diana: 'Because we were like siblings, we rowed'

By Caroline Davies

12:01AM GMT 08 Feb 2007

The Duke of York may have undisclosed funds, receive in the region of £250,000 a year from the Queen and have inherited his grandmother's Windsor home, but apparently it isn't enough — according to his ex-wife.

In an extraordinary interview, the former Sarah Ferguson, all but shunned by the Royal Family since her 1996 divorce, claims she has always helped to "fund" their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, seemingly out of necessity because of Prince Andrew's status.

"Andrew does the best he can," she told a magazine in America where she has earned considerable sums since her split from him. "But he is the second son, so I've always helped out."

The duchess, who has made a career promoting US Weightwatchers among other commercial ventures and is a regular on the American chat-show circuit, also revealed that the rift with the Royal Family had not lessened with time.

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She said she has had no contact with Princes William and Harry since she fell out with Diana, Princess of Wales a year before she died. But, she told Harper's Bazaar, she believed that she had been on the verge of a reconciliation with their mother.

The duchess said the princes had not been in touch "since Diana and I quit speaking", adding: "I'd like to — we had lovely times together.

"But I don't want either thinking that I am trading on my friendship with them, though I'll always stand by the boys 100 per cent. They've grown up exceptionally well — leaders, role models."

The duchess has only been invited to one high-profile royal event since the divorce — last year's Garter ceremony at Windsor when she was especially invited by her former husband, who was being invested.

But she has earned respect in the US and has ploughed herself into charity work in Britain in an attempt to rehabilitate her tarnished reputation.

Prince Andrew is clearly still an ardent supporter. As she was honoured at a New York lunch yesterday as "Mother of the Year" by the American Cancer Society, he sent a glowing tribute, claiming that she had all too often been the subject of a critical press.

"I have been the silent beneficiary of her brilliance in the way she has brought up our two wonderful daughters; to be modern young women who have style as well as compassion for others and public responsibility," he said.

"Sarah has managed this in the glare of what, at times, has been hostile media attention.

"I for one am deeply proud of her achievements in many fields of her endeavours over recent years but as a mother there is none better."

The duchess, however, has earned some criticism for admitting that she took her young daughters "clubbing", before either of them was aged 18.

She told the magazine: "They said, 'We want you to come because you're hip-hop, crazy, mad'. I just don't see the whole world like most people. I don't tell my daughters anything — they decide, I guide."

In an effusive video played to the lunch in Manhattan, Princess Beatrice, 18, said of her mother: "I love you so much that it's really quite indescribable. Your life, your love and your creativity have blessed me so much and blessed so many people."

Her 16-year-old sister said: "I'm so, so proud of you. I love you and I'm so lucky to have you for my mummy."

In this latest interview, the duchess said she "really missed" Diana, and claimed that the princess had said she wanted to talk to her just a day before she died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

"I loved her so much," she said. "Diana was one of the quickest wits I knew; nobody made me laugh like her. But because we were like siblings, we rowed.

"And the saddest thing, at the end, we hadn't spoken for a year, though I never knew the reason, except that once Diana got something in her head … I tried, wrote letters, thinking whatever happened didn't matter, let's sort it out."

The duchess, who posed for the magazine looking sultry in fishnets and brandishing a riding crop, admitted she was "very lonely", having not been in a relationship for five years.

She said she wanted to date again but never met any men. "Besides, they're terrified of me," she added.

"Not only do I come with the world's press, but I'm 47 and I say what I feel. I'm not going to play games."